Equidade - Blog Posts
The last species of the Equidae family, The zebras! Zebras have three distinctive species and 10 subspecies. It is probably the most beloved of the equines, (apart from the horses of course) and it is indeed a very particular animal.
On the other hand, to solve the mystery of the color of the zebras once and for all (if they are white with black stripes, or black with withe stripes), I can assure that these ones are black with white stripes.
Grevy’s Zebra or Imperial Zebra: The largest and the most threatened. Its population has declined from 15000 to 3000 since the 70′s. Although since 2008 it’s population has been stable. It differs in behavior from the other species because it doesn’t form big harems. It has narrower stripes and bigger size. Its main problem was hunting since its skin was highly appreciated in the market. Today the Grevy’s Zebra is protected in Ethiopia and Kenya making a decline in the hunting. However, habitat loss and competing for natural resources with livestock became its main issue. Posters in my store: Here Follow my Instagram: Species of the World
Przewalski's Horse:
The Przewalski Horse is the only truly wild horse that remains. Extinct at some point for more than 30 years, it was the zoos who actually brought them back. By 1940′s its number began to decline rapidly and by 1969 after a fruitless search, only one individual was spotted in the wild. Only a handful of this animals were surviving in some of the zoos of Europe.
A breeding program began in the Netherlands by 1977. By 1979 the program was able to maximize the genetic diversity from the almost 400 individuals spread in 16th different facilities. By early 1900s, the number of horses increased by over 1500. The horse is now reintroduced to its natural habitat and today it’s numbers remain stable.
Zoos are controversial but I personally think they are crucial at the conservation of the species (I’m talking about zoos that are actually working on precede the life of many species, not the ones that are created just for our own selfish enjoyment). There is of course room for improvement but a zoo is not what it used to be 40 years ago. There is a better understanding of the behavior of the animals today and this allow us to make better enclosures that are a more friendly space for the animals inside.
On the other hand, we are making the world an uncertain place. Many of the habitats are being vanished from earth and many species have seen their numbers drastically reduced because of this. Maybe the zoos are the new futuristic Noah’s Arc. A place for recovery, where endanger animals can survive in this uncertain times. Then, we can have more time to learn how to live on earth without destroying it and put them back where they belong once everything is safe again.
If is not for zoos, the Przewalski Horse would have vanished from earth many years ago.
PD. I change a little the layout. What do you think?
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Domestic Horse Countless of breeds of domestic horses that are divided in three categories: the Hot Blood, the Cold Blood and the Warm Blood. The horse has been crucial in to the evolution of the humans. It was one of the first animals domesticated and thanks to them we hav been able to conquer the world shorting distances, carrying or agriculture. We won’t be what we are now if is not because of the taming of the horse.
The three categories are divided like this: The Hot Blood of spirited horses are used for speed and its endurance. The Cold horse have the ponies and dwarf horses but also the biggest ones and are mostly used to heavy work and the warm blood which is a mixing of both is focusing in creating for specific riding purposes, mostly in Europe.
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Now is the turn of the Equidae Family. Not a huge fan of this family but I most say that it was very interesting to study them. Some of the members of this family are sadly extinct, while many others are on the brink of extinction. This animal has a beauty that is hard to express with words. I guess that is why appear in so many paintings through history.
Feral Horse: The feral horse is a free animal that was once domesticated. Somehow, escaped and become feral. The most famous ones might be the mustangs in North America. However the biggest population is found in Australia with more that 400.000 individuals. In Australia they are called Brumby. They can be found mostly everywhere and it’s name change depending on where is found and what type of breed used to be. Life always will find its way to survive.
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